In February of 1987, Peter Kreckel of Tyrone was leafing through his most recent copy of the Knights of Columbus monthly magazine when a specific article caught his eye.
\nIt concerned a fisherman\u2019s discovery of a dead infant in the Mahoning River. After weeks of investigation, a positive identification was never made.
\nSo the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus decided to intervene. It decided to adopt the child and provide a proper burial service.
\nThree days after Kreckel read the article, the same thing happened in this area.
\nThe body of a dead infant was found in Antis Township. As in Ohio, an investigation revealed nothing.
\n\u201cWe just felt the proper thing to do was take this child as our own and do the same thing as the chapter in Ohio,\u201d said Kreckel, who is the pro-life director for St. Gregory Council No. 1218, Knights of Columbus, Tyrone Council. \u201cWe saw it as an obligation.\u201d
\nThe council made all the provisions and with the help of funeral director Ted Feller, \u201cBaby Agnes Doe\u201d was committed to Oak Grove Cemetery in Tyrone on June 20, 1987.
\n\u201cSince that time, we\u2019ve used Baby Agnes Doe as the focus for pro-life support in Tyrone,\u201d said Kreckel.
\nThis Sunday, hundreds of pro-life supporters will gather in Tyrone for the 16th annual Respect Life March.
\nThe program is scheduled to begin at noon with a prayer service at St. Matthew\u2019s Church. The service will be followed with a 1.25-mile march to Oak Grove Cemetery to the grave of Baby Agnes Doe for another short prayer service.
\n\u201cOur goal is simply to pray for unborn children now,\u201d said Kreckel. \u201cWe need to respect life at all stages and want this march to reflect that.\u201d
\nKreckel said normally, about 125 people attend the annual march, noting that a good number influx from other areas, including Renovo, Huntingdon, Altoona and Williamsport. Last year, the largest turnout ever occurred with 180 people marching up the hill.
\n\u201cA lot of people come year after year,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd every year, we see a lot of new faces.\u201d
\nThe Tyrone Borough Police Department and local fire police officers will escort the walk. Kreckel said those who may not feel able to make the 1.25-mile hike, are able to ride behind the procession in vehicles.
\n\u201cYou will enjoy the fellowship as we draw upon the strengths of each other as we battle the lack of respect of life at all stages, from the unborn child to the terminally ill,\u201d said Kreckel. \u201cPlease join us as we walk prayerfully and meditate upon the atrocities.\u201d
\nKreckel said those attending are encouraged to make a sign showing support of the pro-life movement.
\nFollowing the services, a luncheon of sandwiches and soup will be provided in Parish Hall.
\nFor more information, contact Peter Kreckel at 684-2898.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In February of 1987, Peter Kreckel of Tyrone was leafing through his most recent copy of the Knights of Columbus monthly magazine when a specific article caught his eye. It concerned a fisherman\u2019s discovery of a dead infant in the Mahoning River. After weeks of investigation, a positive identification was never made. So the local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}